Living by the scriptures
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The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. — Psalm 145:8-9
I've always had a particularly difficult time with feeling God's love one hundred percent of the time. I sometimes react with fear, like the brother of Jared did: "And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me" . . . (Ether 3: 8).
I worry so much about being punished by God that I can't feel His love for me. A great quote, by President James E. Faust, has helped me to overcome this fear: "All of us have made wrong turns along the way. I believe the kind and merciful God, whose children we are, will judge us as lightly as He can for the wrongs that we have done and give us the maximum blessing for the good that we do" ("Woman, Why Weepest Thou?" Ensign, November 1996 p. 53).
As I was doing my daily morning reading of Psalms, I came across a scripture that helped me understand an important quality that our Heavenly Father has. It talks about the great mercy that our Heavenly Father has for each of us. When I read that I realized that God is not watching and waiting to punish or scold us for every wrong step we take. Rather, He watches us with such love, knowing exactly how He can help us overcome our problems. I know that our Heavenly Father is merciful; we just need to open our hearts to receive His love and mercy that He is so willing to give us. He doesn't seek our pain or to hurt us, but rather "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). If we look carefully, we'll see His hand work wonderful, little miracles in our lives. — Elder Devin Stevens, Canada Montreal Mission
